When it released, Madden NFL 13's new "Connected Careers" mode forbade the editing of any player. This was somewhat understandable, as the roster is used by others online and changes can affect the outcomes of games elsewhere in your league. It was still rather Draconian, as it meant you could not edit your own created player, so if you happened to give him a helmet with no facemask, well, that's what he was wearing until he went into Canton.

So this month EA Sports added in the means to edit players' physical traits, and all was well. Or so we thought. Turns out abusive editing of the grande-size positions on the field—these would be linemen and fullbacks, you know, positions that block—had turned into a problem. [Update:] It also could have been a glitch, other users reported skinny line personnel occurring if any change was made to them.

Super-skinny line personnel, even if their attributes are unchanged, conceivably affect in-game competition because the game shifted to real-time physics for its collisions this year, as opposed to animations based on attribute rolls. Granted, that may be a marginal decrease, but they still looked stupid, and everyone was complaining about it.

Well, Madden NFL 13 has now pulled back player editing in online Connected Careers. Gone is the means of editing a real NFL player's butt or belly size (or his arm size, or thigh size, or whatever.) This happened in a patch that rolled out earlier today. You may still edit the cosmetic features of a player you create and control—uniform number, equipment loadout, alma mater, but no physical trait is adjustable.

Now, boys, quit making Haloti Ngata look like Connor Barth and play nice together. Don't make me send your father back there.